Black Bankers

..i've seen three in my former firm. two male, one female.

in banking that is.

also, start being PC - african american.

african american is not necessarily pc. Actually, the term "black" is okay. Many blacks of African and Caribbean descent don't want to be lumped in to the "african american" label since they are Nigerian/Jamaican/etc.

Did I just read that correctly? "A lack of brain power"...

Let me get this straight. So you've surmised that there MUST be only 2 reasons. Either they cannot do the work, or they are being discriminated against.

Yeah, you'll do just fine in banking...

"In the end, there can be only one..."

Just goes to show you that you can be retarded, ignorant, and harbor just a ting of racism and still land that dream job on Wall Street. OP is living proof...

Maybe I'm the odd man out, but at every BB, MM and the couple of boutique interviews I had, I ended up meeting or interviewing with at least one black girl or guy.

dude... lack of brain power? you kidding me? how can you say that on a public forum? Are you retarded or something? How did you ever get a bank to give you an offer?

Listen, this is America and a public forum. The guy can say whatever he wants (luckily we still have protection of the First Amendment until Obama revises the document in Feb) and we can ridicule the OP accordingly for his comments. I have worked with bankers of all races and religions.

You do realize that not everybody that's black is American, right?

Ouch, that was harsh..

sigh a lack of opporunities- for us non-whites..

-R-

K.Don is a highly respected banker.

I am hisp and out of 7 people on my trade team.... 3 are hisp

Hmm I wonder whether tough times bring out the worst in people (e.g. racism).

there are a number of very qualified and hard working black people at my firm. i don't think it's a stretch to say that non-minorities outnumber minorities, but we have a lot of people from different nationalities and backgrounds, all of whom are very talented, smart people.

i don't think OP's question is a bad one if it is phrased something like, "is it a lack of interest in these jobs or a lack of opportunity?"

making generalities about race and intelligence shows not only a shallow outlook, but also sets you up for some bad situations if you say the wrong thing to the wrong person.

Stan O'Neal? hahaha

Ray McGuire of Citi/MS, total stud

Ogulesi - formerly of CS, global head of banking. Now in PE... http://www.time.com/time/2002/globalinfluentials/gbiogunlesi.html

I can only speak for black immigrants and most of those want their kids to have "real jobs" in law or medicine, it is not considered elite amongst a lot of African or Caribbean families to be a banker.

Being a banker really isn't respected in certain communities (outside of WASP and Jews) so it might be a lack of demand.

You can measure how intelligent someone is by how large their head is! True story!

This thread is depressing. I hope these posters are actually just high school freshman and not aspiring financial professionals.

MoneyKingdom is a retard.

You do live in a virtual world, because I seriously doubt you have the balls to say that to a group of people face to face. Your "Freedom of speech" only exists online, where you can say what you want and disappear.

I could have done I-banking in 9th grade.

Getting a 1400 on your SATs is harder than building a valuation model.

A 1500 SAT score is as intellectually impressive is doing M&A for a year

Intelligence and banking aren't that highly correlated.

Intelligent people do banking because they just need to learn that stuff and to leap frog several years of low-level work at a F500 firm.

Yes, we know race and intelligence correlation is a sensitive issue, but a lot of you idiots need to get off your high horses besides taking the PC stance. People are so happy to point out any other differences when it comes to race because it makes each group "special" and "unique", but when it comes to the topic of intelligence all of a sudden we're all "equal", end of discussion. Politically correct bullshit.

yeah most of the black bankers are african

people that keep defending MoneyKingdom... I don't know what's wrong with your way of thinking... a statement about ANY race other than your own that lumps everyone together in a demeaning way is racist. Honestly, before wasting your time typing something stupid, tell everyone your name and where you work and then go ahead and defend the moron that implied that blacks aren't smart enough to do banking. If you think it's completely ok, that is... Any volunteers? Thought so.

was the gap is significantly smaller. far to small to explain the huge difference in wealth and income. the point is regardless of the genes, if you take a fully educated black person from an upper middle class or higher family and they will succeed at almost the same level whites... then calculate the racial obstacles already in place in today's world... and you are left with a very small argument that supports genes and a very large argument for everything else.

drawing on wide sweeping large generalities is racist. there is no way other way to cut it.

i give up.

finally a parting thought, with all the fucked up shit that has been done in the name of "race" in the world... I would reevaluate why it is that you so adamantly feel the need to go there....

This topic is disgraceful. Judging by the posts, I would think this topic was made on one of the social forums I frequent, rather than banking professionals. Pathetic.

Consider this.....

There are plenty of blacks in finance (and yes, I'm talking about front-office positions). Just like there are plenty of blacks in top MBA programs. That said, many of those people tend to be Africans, and not black Americans.

So this disproves all the people who somehow claim that the black race is somehow inferior to any other race. That said, it also brings up a key point that many people fail to consider--that maybe there is a cultural reason for the disparities.

If there was racism based purely on skin colour then there would be fewer Africans in finance, not just fewer black Americans. So it looks to me like there are two possible reasons for this:

1) Black Americans are being discriminated against not because of skin colour, but because of cultural preconceptions that exist in America, OR

2) The cultural norms of modern day black American are somehow resulting in lower performance for blacks.

I am in no position to argue for either #1 or #2, but I think it would be helpful if people looked past race and instead at culture. The obvious parallel to this is Islamic extremism. With this issue you can judge what effect cultural standards will have on the prosperity of a group of people without turning it into a race issue.

Few will claim that Arabs, for example, are any less intelligent, hard-working, etc. than any other groups of people. Instead, you can attribute the lack of progress of certain countries in the Middle East NOT to a racial differential, but rather to cultural issues. One such issue would be lack of equal opportunity for women. When you prevent 1/2 of the population from working then it tends to cut your GDP in half, for example.

Consider looking beyond skin colour and asking yourself whether or not American culture as a whole might just be crashing down around us as we speak. I have very little faith in the people of America, and I believe our entire culture (black AND white) is one of laziness, selfishness, complete disregard for other human beings, and total lack of responsibility for one's actions. Maybe we should be worrying about fixing this problem instead of getting caught up in whether it drags down whites or blacks first, because eventually it will hit us all....

And before anyone gets fired up about my criticism of the US--I served as an officer in the US military and I am a decorated combat veteran, so I pretty much reserve the right to say whatever the fuck I want about this country.....

the only people making a racial statement were the ones arguing for moneykingdom's theory. I think it's pretty evident that everyone else said you have to look past race to explain the differences not only in banking, but also social, cultural, and yes, economic status quo. I think thedude and myself were simply arguing that those comments are racist. It's not about being PC. And seriously, you can be a 2.4 from a community college and still come off as better educated as someone who says blacks' absence in finance is attributable to their "lack of brain power..." and then quoting some studies that argue for a similar thesis. Are whites, then, genetically inferior to asians in sciences (math, physics, chemistry, etc) simply because there are so many more asians who work in those fields? Please...

jesus

who cares in the end what the ethinc breakdown of your floor is like... you're black and you suck then go fuck yourself... if you're white and you suck then go fuck yourself.

its that simple

Wow, the stir that this topic caused.

I'll state the obvious - there are stereotypes that simply mold our perception (whether we like it or not)

My opinions: 1. African American/Black and Hispanic individuals are in no way less intelligent than any other individual of different origin. They are simply given less opportunities in their childhood to take advantage of the education system. Thus, fewer African American/Black and Hispanic bankers on the street.

2. Affirmative Action (AA) has played its part in creating opportunities for minorities, but has transformed into a sort of fuel for this ignorant stereotype. Because of AA, qualified individuals who are not considered minorities are not given the same opportunities. They are on an uneven playing field. I've seen less intelligent/unqualified individuals land jobs simply because of their race. On the flip side, I guess you can say that AA is needed to create an uneven playing field in schooling/employment because of the uneven playing field these minorities faced earlier in their childhood

Feel free to bash my opinions...